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amiller

New member
Joined
Apr 11, 2024
Posts
2
Location
Greeneville, TN
Good morning. I have previously owned 5th wheel travel trailers. I have been out of the RV scene for over 20 years. Looking to buy a small (under 28 feet) Class A motor home and tow a vehicle just weighing under 5000 pounds, Traveling solo. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to the forum.
You have not given enough information for me to give you solid advice. Most of the things needed to give you good advice are none of our business.
For good advice I would need to know the state of your health, your financial situation, your skills at fixing things and your emotional well-being right now.
 
I am in very good shape for 76 years old. I am a retired Electrical and Building Contractor, so I can fix or repair most items. My finances are very good. Looking to spend $150K, or less for Motor home and tow vehicle (2024 Chevy Colorado).
 
There are very few class A motorhome of 28 ft or less, so your choice is quite limited. The Thor Axis & Vegas are the only ones that come to mind, but there may be a few more. You would have a much wider choice in a Class C.

Tow vehicles under 5000 lb shouldn't be a problem if you are willing to use a tow dolly with a front drive car or SUV, but vehicles that can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground seem to be fewer every year. Some of them will be under 5000#, though.
 
Just one word of caution about your 2024 Chevrolet Colorado. You will want to double check, if you haven't already. Only the 4x4 models are flat-towable AND they must have the 2-speed transfer case (4HI and 4LO). RWD-only models, and models with a single speed transfer case are usually not flat-towable. Should be clearly stated in the owner's manual.
 
Just one word of caution about your 2024 Chevrolet Colorado. You will want to double check, if you haven't already. Only the 4x4 models are flat-towable AND they must have the 2-speed transfer case (4HI and 4LO). RWD-only models, and models with a single speed transfer case are usually not flat-towable. Should be clearly stated in the owner's manual.
Exactly! The vehicle-specific owner manual, recreational towing chapter is the final authority. I've found mistakes in 2 online towing guides while researching for someone.
 
Also keep in mind just because a given motorhome can tow 5,000 pounds, does not mean you should. We have a 28 ft class A with a 5,000 pound tow rating, along with 2 TOAD cars a 2,300 pound Toyota Yaris, and a 4,300 pound Jeep Cherokee, when towing the Yaris I have to keep my rear view camera on to know it is back there, with the Cherokee there is never any doubt, and it shaves a few miles per hour off my comfortable max driving speed.

On another topic, have you considered the logistics of flat towing a car while traveling solo? I personally have not yet towed a car while taking solo trips due to some of these logistics concerns, what to do if, etc. For example my wife and I just returned home from a 900 mile round trip to see the solar eclipse last week, on the third day of the trip as we were preparing to leave a campground while doing the brake and turn signal check on the TOAD car we found the right turn / brake light was not working. I spent about an hour trouble shooting, which was complicated by the fact whoever wired the tail lights on the Yaris did not use standard trailer wiring color codes. Since it was check out time, we had reservations for the next 3 nights, etc. my wife ended up driving the TOAD car 120 miles to the next campground, something I would not have been able to do if towing solo. Last October I took a circa 900 mile solo trip, and specifically choose to leave the TOAD cars behind due to such what if concerns.
 
With a small A, do you really need to tow a car? I have been on the road full time for 12 years without towing a car. When I want to dump my tanks or head out sightseeing or shopping, I just unplug electric and water hose, put slides in, and go. I leave everything else on my site, including a sign that says I will be right back, and have never had anyone take anything. (One exception is when a camp host assistant ignored my sign and figured I had left, so packed up my stuff and headed toward the trash. Caught him just in time and pointed out my sign saying I would be right back.)

When I started out, I figured it was worth trying it without a tow, especially since hooking up might be tricky since I was alone. Makes it a lot easier when driving to go into gas stations and other places without anything behind me.
 
Good morning. I have previously owned 5th wheel travel trailers. I have been out of the RV scene for over 20 years. Looking to buy a small (under 28 feet) Class A motor home
Sounds like what I wanted, but that doesn't exist these days from the best I could tell. The smallest new Class A I found was the Thor Axis. But when I looked at it, I didn't like it at all, for many reasons.

So I got a little longer (29' 11") , spent a little more. See here.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
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